The Road Trip: October 2015

Shopping

We stopped by a grocery store on our way out of town and stocked up. We took far too long in that store. We’re new to this whole thing, so it took us longer than most. We were finally on the road by 3pm. Of all the disappointments in the day, I couldn’t be disappointed with the views. The scenery was stunning. Truly stunning. Mountains, lakes, birds, sheep, little lambs chasing each other. It was like being in a movie. We passed mines, honey farms, small towns, and wound our way along towards Milford Sound. 

First campsite: Te Anau

We had planned on cooking dinner, but by the time we arrived to Te Anau, it was dinner time. We hadn’t planned on where to sleep, and didn’t want to set up in the dark, so we decided to eat at a restaurant, and find the nearest camp site on my app. I have this groovy little app that was recommended to me by the Argentine couple we met in Port Douglas. It tells you where all of the campsite are- paid and free. We decided to stay at a site right out of Te Anau. The owners were so cute and lovely. We clearly didn’t need a powered site, but they weren’t too full and gave us a powered site with a lovely view. I spent the evening washing and cutting our fruits and vegetables, while Javier cleaned out our water container. Oh yeah, I forgot about that one. The van comes with a water container. The guy told us some people fill it with tap and use it to drink. When we finally took it out, there was mold, mildew and leftover water inside. It was really gross, so Javier cleaned it as much as possible, and we now use it to “wash” our dishes. 

Te Anau

It took us a while to set up the bed, and after it was done, we decided to just leave it, so we now have a permanent bed in the back. We slept fairly well, not great, but okay. Definitely good enough for the first time. After a quick breakfast, we were back on the road. There were a few sights we wanted to stop at along the way.

We stopped a Te Anau Downs for some pictures, Eglinton Valley, which is a great big grassland in the middle of the mountains, and the Mirror Lakes, which are exactly as they sound.

Eglinton Valley

We had joined several tour groups at these stops, so we made them quick. I had found a campsite next to Lake Gunn, so we decided to stop early, have lunch and spend the rest of the day relaxing. Except…we couldn’t find the campsite. We were looking for the signs and drove right past! We turned around at a small parking lot where we would be returning the following morning for a hike. On the way back, we were both on the lookout, and next thing we knew…we had passed it again! We decided to make one last attempt. Javier slowed down significantly, and I saw that the sign had fallen down, at least it looked that way from the road. When we turned off, we saw that they had changed its status from campground to day visit only. After all that, we would not be sleeping there after all. Well, after this much effort, we were at least going to have lunch there.

Mirror lakes

We pulled out our stove and started cooking. We had tortellini and chicken. It took some effort, but we were rewarded with a delicious hot lunch. While cooking and eating, Javier was being eaten alive by what we later learned were sand flies. The flies were very aggressive and annoying. When we were done cleaning up, we walked down by the water, and were again attacked by the sandflies. I guess we’re not as outdoorsy as we would like to think. We decided to claim our stake at another campsite, so we backtracked again. We were greeted by more sandflies, and paid the $6 kiwi dollars per person. Actually, we only paid $11.90. We didn’t have exact change, and it is an honor system. You just leave your payment in an envelope. Javier wrote the rangers a nice note explaining why we were short. 🙂 We decided to go for a walk through the red beech trees to the lake. It is a 45 minute loop, Javier’s feet were still hurting, so we decided to take it easy to see how he did. The walk was lovely. The forest was beautiful.

lake Gunn nature walk

Everything was different shades of green. Even the rocks and tree trunks are covered in different mosses, which only add to the green magic. We wandered to the lake, and watched the wind blow small waves onto the rocks. It was so peaceful, and I thought, I want to live somewhere like this in my sunset years. We stayed there for a while. On the way back, Javier couldn’t help himself. He took us offtrack and we followed a different path along the water. Only problem with this path is that is hasn’t been filled in with tiny rocks like the other path, so we had to cross portions that were boggy and downright swampy. My boots didn’t seem to mind that much, but Javier’s running shoes did. We popped out of the forest right at our camper site, which was a nice surprise. 

We still had quite a bit of daylight left so we pulled out our chairs, sat in the sun, and read. The pesky flies were at us, but they weren’t as bad as earlier. We had dinner in the car, and geared up for bed. 

Key summit

We were still getting used to sleeping in the car, and it was significantly colder than the previous night. After a quick breakfast and freshening up, we headed back to our trailhead. We decided to take the Key Summit trail. It was a 3 hour hike, out and back. Javier was in running shoes again and covered his blisters with bandaids. We were both still incredibly sore from our first hike several days earlier, so we decided to take our trekking poles. The hike was through mossy forest. Once we were high enough, we came to a clearing and saw mountains all around us. We took an alpine walk to get a little higher to see Lake Marion nestled in between two mountains. It was a beautiful lookout, but the wind was strong and cold. We made our way back down, stopping every once in a while to stretch our legs, which hurt like none other, but made the downhill much more bearable. 

We planned on having a picnic lunch in the little shelter area of the carpark, but our friends, the flies, were in full force. Looks like lunch in the car again. 

creepy tunnel before Milford sound

We continued to Milford Sound. The mountains were getting bigger and bigger the closer we came. We drove through the Homer Tunnel, which is a 1.2 km long tunnel through sheer rock. We stopped at the Chasm, which was actually one of the highlights for me. I was so impressed by the power of the water. It was mesmerizing. Some of the rocks have holes in the top that actually look like bowls. Perfectly shaped, half-moon bowls. The whole thing was really amazing. 

We arrived in Milford Sound in the late afternoon. There is only one lodge in the town. There’s actually not much else- just a tourist information/cafe and that’s about it. There’s no grocery store, gas station, and the only places to eat are the info center, and the lodge. Seeing as Milford Sound is a top tourist attraction, and there is only one lodge in town, it gets pretty busy.

Milford Sound

We arrived early, and once we were situated, showered, grabbed our books, and claimed a soft sofa that faced the window where we could admire the mountains outside. We stayed there all evening. We ordered dinner, watched the torrential downpour outside, and prayed that our little green machine didn’t leak. When it was time to go to sleep, we ran to the van, and were pretty wet. We laid in bed with the rain splattering on the car, and decided that it was a night for earplugs. 

We had a free day. Javier wanted to hike. I thought he was crazy. His heels looked like raw ground beef, and he wanted to go on another hike. Instead, we did laundry.

Milford Sound

The next morning. We went kayaking! Javier was really excited about this, and I was too, just not as much as him. We were going to kayak for 3 hours! I could already feel the soreness in my arms. We weren’t sure exactly what to wear, but it turned out you could have shown up in your underwear and been alright. They provided everything. They gave us thermals, which were striped, and did not match. We looked like characters from Hooville. They also gave us a fleece, waterproof shell, life vest, and spray skirt.

Milford Sound

After a quick briefing, we hopped into our kayaks and took off. Javier was in the back and therefore in charge of steering. It took a while in the beginning. While everyone else seemed to be moving in a straight line more or less, we were zig-zagging our way along. It made for a much more tiring experience. Just being on the Milford Sound was amazing. We learned that the Milford Sound is actually not a sound at all. The lake is leftover from a glacier, so the whole area is a fjord. There were tall snow-capped mountains all around us, waterfalls, and penguins! We paddled around all morning, learning about the area, the history, and having a great time. At one point, we stopped and climbed out of our kayaks for a snack. We watched the big cruise boats going back and forth. Other than the effort it took to get us from point A to B, it was a very relaxing day on the lake. We were really lucky with great weather. In that area, it can be raining nonstop all day, and the next, sunny and glorious. We had sunshine, and our guide told us that with lots of sunshine usually comes strong winds in the afternoon. We caught a little bit of wind and we were heading back, but it was behind and created little waves, which we were able to catch and ride. 

Lake Wanaka

We ended up back in Queenstown for the night. We wanted to continue north, and the only road that would allow for this, swings back through Queenstown. We arrived in early evening, and even though we were both pretty tired, and it was so last minute, we messaged Angela to see if she and Tom wanted to get together. Tom had worked too much the previous days and was too tired, but Angela came out to spend one last evening with us. She too was really tired from work, but we had a nice, mellow evening, and we were really glad she came out one last time. She had to work in the morning, so Javier and I decided to stop by for some delicious breakfast from our favorite breakfast chef!

Angela came out one last time, to say good-bye and we were off! We stocked up on some blister bandaids, traded in our old broken fridge for a new one (although it still wasn’t too great) and decided to head over to Lake Wanaka for the night. 

We had one day to get to Franz Josef glacier. The drive wasn’t too long, so we took our time and went to the grocery store to stock up. We bought ingredients for lomo saltado, which Javier cooked up for us that night for dinner, what a treat! 

Franz Josef Glacier

We both experienced our first helicopter ride and glacier walk! What a day. We were given all the gear we needed (even boots), climbed into helicopters and were dropped off onto the Franz Josef glacier. As soon as we stepped off, we put on our crampons and started our trek. We stopped many times along the way. We were both a little annoyed. Because the glacier is constantly moving and changing, the guides have to change their routes. For example, we walked through a crevasse that had only “opened up” a few days earlier. Our guide was constantly using her pickaxe to break-up ice to make it easier for us. We wandered on the glacier for a while before we arrived at the crevasse we would squeeze through. It was incredible. At times, we had to turn sideways and shuffle our feet, one in front of the other, because the space wasn’t wide enough to walk straight. There were ropes for us to hold on to as we descended further into the crevasse. 

Glacier lick

We spent the next few days driving from one beautiful, picturesque site to another. Even though Javier’s blisters are still scary looking, he refused to take it easy, so we hiked just about every day. Not for too long, but just to get out there and enjoy the views. While at Franz Josef glacier we decided to head over to Mt. Cook and hike to Lake Hooker. On the map, the two are right next to each other- on either side of the mountain/glaciers. There are no through roads, so we had to drive all the way around. We stopped a few hours from our destination in Lake Hawea. Again, just a gorgeous area. We parked next to the lake, and had the most beautiful view when we went to sleep and awoke the next morning. We headed over to Mt. Cook to start our hike. We weren’t expecting it to be so hot. The hike was really easy, and there were many people of all ages out and about. We slept that night in Lake Tekapo and hiked up to the Mt. John observatory. The lakes around here are the most astonishing blue color. What is the blue equivalent to “bubble-gum pink?” Cotton candy blue? Neither of us has seen a body of water this color before, and we can’t seem to get enough of it. 

Mount Cook

We were really making most of this trip as we went along. At the last minute, we decided to head over to Christchurch. I needed a down day, and we both needed to get online to plan our next moves. When we arrived and connected to the world, Javier had an email waiting for him from our friends Julia and Kathy!! They are the mother/daughter duo that we met in Vietnam. Kathy told us to let them know if we would be stopping by Christchurch, and even offered us a room! Since our decision was so last minute, we went ahead and stayed at a hotel, but Javier sent them an email to see if they would have time to get together.

Christchurch with Julia and Kathy

Thankfully they did, so we met for lunch! It was really great catching up with them. We were able to hear about their adventures after we parted ways, and they, ours. We spent the afternoon together, and they took us to an area called ReStart. It’s a mall that was built right after the earthquake. Most of the downtown area was destroyed, and this mall popped up in answer to the closing of downtown. It is made up of shipping containers. It is really well done, and very artsy. We had a walk around and stopped at a museum that is all about the earthquake. We were able to see pictures of the city before and immediately after. It was quite chilling. Kathy and Julia pointed out different landmarks along the way, some new, and others old, that have yet to be fixed. They pointed out many empty lots where buildings used to stand. It was kind of sad to see the city today versus what it was. It’s been almost 5 years later, and so much still needs to be done. It will be nice to see what it looks like in the future. 

Cider and Carrots

We spent the next day driving to Nelson’s Lake with the plan to hike the next morning. That night, we met an American girl at our campsite. She just graduated college and was about to start a job working with the New Zealand Department of Conservation, basically she was going to work at one of the National Parks as a ranger. She has done plenty of ranger work before, most recently in Alaska, and was raised in Yosemite by her park ranger parents, so she gave us the rundown on how to handle all types of bears. It was very informative and useful information. 

Lake Rotoiti

The next morning we hiked up Mt. Robert on a very lovely half-day trek. We stopped for gas on the way to Farewell Spit and discovered the most delicious ice cream. (We have since looked for the same ice cream everywhere we go) At farewell spit, we were told that it actually costs $125 to take a tour on the spit. It’s quite long, and only one company has the rights to drive on it. The only thing I wanted to see was the lighthouse, but not for $125. Instead, we hiked the next morning to a lookout point where we could see the spit in front of us with the waves crashing on one side and the calm waters on the other.

Wharariki Beach, Farewell Spit

The hike itself was the best part. You basically walk through a pasture full of sheep. There are little orange triangles to mark the path and little steps to climb over the wire fencing. It was so beautiful. Green hills with sheep all around. We took another walk along the beach. There are these arching rocks that people like to take photos of, but I wanted to go for the seals. One of the rocks is supposed to be a playground for seals and seal pups. We started on a green grassy trail that quickly changed to trees and then beach. As soon as we walked out onto the beach we saw a seal. He or she was just sitting on the sand posing. We walked right up to it and after it gave us the once over, decided we were harmless and went on sunbathing. We took pictures of the arch rocks, and decided to head back. I wanted to walk by the seal rock to see if there were anymore, and sure enough, there were a few more playing in the water and on the rocks. 

Hi. Puponga farm Hike

We stayed that night in Pelarus Bridge, which was a little over half-way from Farewell Spit to Picton, where we would be dropping the car and taking the ferry to the North Island. It was our final night in the van, and I didn’t want to get out of bed the next morning. Our little van was so comfortable, and even with all the shortcomings, we were both going to miss it very much. We did another hike the following morning and drove the final stretch to Picton. Side note: Javier’s heels are still open wounds. He probably shouldn’t be hiking, but cannot stand the thought of traveling through New Zealand and not hiking at least every other day. We finalized our car pick-up in Wellington, confirmed our ferry for the next morning, and spent our last night in the south island. 

To see more pictures of New Zealand, click HERE.